Rotary core-drill attachment



A. L. ARMENTROUT ET AL Y ROTARY GORE DRILL ATTACHMENT 'Filed Feb.; 25. 1926 March 25, 1930.

Y K Imm/woz, Aer/wf l. MME/Www 'EL w//v B. HALL 722W@ f Nt,

atto/mug .Wm i l Ei Patented Mar. 25, 1930 "UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ARTHUR L. ARMENTROUT AND ELWIN B. HALIi, 0F LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA ROTARY GORE-DRILL ATTACHMENT Application led February 25, 1926. Serial No. 90,591.

Our invention relates to rotary core drill attachments of the character embodied in our United States Patent No. 1,656,809 issued January 17, 1928, such attachments having a gyroscopic compass which operates to determine the exact direction in which an inclined stratum of earth dips so that the crest of an anticline can be Substantially determined and reached by a series of drilling operations. i

It is a purpose of our present invention to provide an attachment of the above described character which, as against thev expensive gyroscopic compass heretofore used, employs a gyroscopic element of greatly simplified construction to materially reduce the cost of the attachment as a whole and yet permit absolute determination of the direction of dip of an inclined stratum of earth.

It is also a purpose of our invention to provide a rotary core drill attachment which embodies a pair of gyroscopic elements operating in reverse directions to eliminate any inaccuracy as to the recording mark made by the attachment where it is desired that an accurate marking be made.-

We will describe only two forms of rotary core drill attachment embodying our invention, and will then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

In the drawings Figure 1 is a view showing in vertical section a rotary core drill ir applied position within a well and having applied thereto one form of attachment embodying our invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view of a portion of the attachment shown in Fi re 1;

igure 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on vthe line 3-3 of Figure 2;

Figure 4 is a detail perspective view of the recording disk shown in Figure 2;

Figures 5 and 6 are. fragmentary sectional views taken on the lines 5-5 and 6-6, respectively, of Figure 1; and

Figure 7 is a view similar to Figure 2,

showing another form of attachment embodying our invention.

eferring specically to the drawings, in

which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, our invention in the embodiment shown in Figure 1 is applied to a rotary core drill of the construction set forth in the application hereinbefore referred to, although it is to be understood that the invention is applicable to rotary core drills of any conventional form. The drill here shown includes boring bits 15 mounted in a tool head 16 connected to a tubular shank or drill 17 through a casing sleeve 18, the pipe adapt- -ed to be rotated to eEect rotation of the bormoval of the core from the barrel.

The attachment embodying our invention comprises a casing 24 secured at its lower closed end to a bracket 25 secured to the upper end of the core barrel 20. rlfhe upperend of the asing 24 is normally close-d by a cover 26, and partitions 27 and 28 divide the casing interiorly into a plurality of compartments in which .the devices constituting the attachment are housed. Within the lowermost compartment is a gyroscopic element comprising a wheel 29 having an axle 30 journaled in bearings 31, the .bearings being se cured to the'inner periphery of a ring 32, and one-of the bearings containing an alternating current motor for rotating the wheel 29. 4 The ring 32 is provided with stub axles 33 and 34 vertically disposed and suitably journaled in the casing and partition 28,- respectively, so as to provide a vertical axis about which the ring may rotate. The wheel 29 is provided with two or more pockets 35 (Figure 5) closed by plugs 36 and containing a marking liquid which is adapted to be dischargedfrorn the pockets through restricted and peripherally'disposed outlets 37.

Current from a generator 38 in the casing 24 is supplied to the motor in one of the beari ings 31 through brushes 39 secured to the upper stub axle 33 and contacting with collector rings (Figure 3) secured to and insulated from the ring 32. Conductors 41 extend from the collector rings to the alternating current motor. The generator 38 is operated by a direct current motor 42 which, as shown in Figure 1 is supplied with current from a storage battery 43 contained in the casing 24. Current supplied to the motor 42 from the battery 43 is controlled by a switch including a pair of stationary contacts 44 and a movable contact 45 insulated from but secured to an arm 46 pivoted at the point indicated at 47 and normally urged to the position shown in Figure 6 by a spring 48, the urged position of the arm being determined by a stop pin 49. Qne end of the arm 46 is disposed in the path of movement of a resilient extension 50 secured to a rod 51 which is movable vertically in the casing 24, the drill pipe 17 and a tool head 16.` A guide 52 is provided interiorly of the drill pipe to slidably receive the rod 51, and a spring 53 is interposed between the guide and a colla-r 54 secured tothe rod whereby the rod is nor-- mally urged downwardly, with its lower end projecting below the bits 15 and its upper end in the solid line position shown in Figure 6.

As shown in Figure 2, the bottom of the casing 24 is provided with clips 55 for holdin g a recordingdisk shaped member 56 in` fixed position upon the bottom of the casing. This member 56 is provided with a central opening 57 to accommodate the stub axle 34, and the member is also split radially as indicated at 58, to permit the portions of the member at the sides of the split to be oppo-o sitely flexed and thus temporarily separated to allow the passage of the stub axle when positioning the member within the casing. A door 59 is removable to allow accessto the compartment in which the gyroscoplc element is mounted for the purpose of noting the position of the wheel 29 and the necessary adjustment of the member 56. 1 The operation of the attachment is as folows:

With the core drill in drilling position as shown in Figure 1, and continuously rotating in one direction, the core 22 is formed. During this` operation the lower end of the rod 51 is in contact with the bottom of the l well so that its upper end occupies the posiwheel attains a predetermined maximum speed which is suicient to throw the liquid from the ports 37 onto the member 56, thereby producing a recording mark on the member which accurately designates the position ter, lose its original position with respect to the plane of the wheel 29 so that .the markthereon made by the liquid will not be a true indication of the original planeof the wheel. Hence it is necessary before removal of the core to-restore the member to its original position, and this is accomplished by rotating the drill pipe in one direction or .the other until the mark on the member alines with the plane of the wheel 29. At this point itis well to explainthat the marking liquid as projected from the wheel will splash on the member 56 in the manner illustrated in Figure 4, thus positively indicating the direction of rotation of the wheel by virtue of the taper of the mark.

With restoration of the member to its original position the core is likewise returned to the circumferential position which it occupied when taken or formed, although it is now at the top of the well.

To record on the core the vertical plane of the wheel 29, a line is now scribed diametrically across the top of the core, it being understood that it is iirst necessary to remove the casing'24 and top plug of the core barrel .in order to gain access to the core. Now that the core has been marked it can be removed from the core barrel and placed on end with its scribed line paralleling the marking on the member 56 when, by the application of a compass thereto, the direction of the line can be determined. By now shavingor slicing the core vertically or lengthwise and at right angles to the strata the inclination of the strata will be disclosed so that with the direction of the scribed line determined the direction of the dip or incli- 1 nation of the strata can thus be determined. It nowremains a simple matter to determine approximately the location of the crest of the anticline.

Due to the direction of rotation of the armature shaft of the motor for driving the wheel, a drag is set up which operates to move the wheel slightly from its original plane of rotation so that the indication thus given is not, strictly speaking, a true one, but it is sufficient-ly accurate for the purpose. If it is desired to render the indication absolutely accurate or to correct the indication Where a great error exists through the requirement of an excessive amount of time in completing the entire operation, two gyroscopic elements are provided as shown in Figure 7 with the wheels thereof rotating in opposed directions so that the opposing drags neutralize each other.

Although we have only shown and described two :forms of rotary core drill attachments embodying our invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit of theinvention, and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

l/Ve claim f l. ln an Aattachment for core drills including a ring mounted to rotate about a vertical axis, a wheel mounted in the ring to rotate about ahorizontal axis,'and means for continuously rotating the wheel in one direction and at a predetermined speed in which it maintains the vertical plane of rotation, a member below the wheel and capable of being marked, and liquid containing pockets in the wheel from which the liquid is discharged when the ,wheel attains the predetermined speed to mark the member and thus record the plane of rotation of the wheel.

2. ln an earth c ore obtaining device' including a rotary element and means forrotating the element at a predetermined speed, means rotatable relative to the element and capable of being marked, said element having means adapted to contain a marking liquid and from which the liquid is discharged when the element attains the predetermined speed,

to mark the lastpmeans and thereby record the plane of rotation of the element. 3. In an earth core obtaining device including a ring mounted to rotate about a vertical axis, a wheel mounted in the ring to rotate about a horizontal axis, and means for rotating the wheel at a predetermined speed in which it maintains the vertical plane of rotation;.means associated with the wheel and capable of being marked, said wheel having means adapted to contain a liquid and from which theliquid is discharged when the wheel attains the predetermined speed p to mark the last means and thus record the plane of rotation of the wheel.

4. In an earth core obtaining device including a rotary element and lmeans for rotating the element at a predetermined speed at which the element maintains its plane of rotation, a member rotatable with the device and capable of being marked, and means controlled by the speed-of the element and operable when the element attains said predetermined speed to mark the member and thereby record the plane of rotation ofthe element.

' 5. The combination as embodied in claim 4 wherein the marking means comprises a pockerally disposed restricted outlet through which the liquid is discharged under the action of centrifugal force when the element attains said predetermined speed.

7. ln an earth core obtaining device including a rotary element and means for rotating the element at a predetermined speed at which the element,maintains its plane of rotation, a member rotatable with the device and capable of being marked, means on the element in which a marking liquid is adapted to be stored, and means for controlling the discharge of liquid from the last means and operablewhen the element attains said predetermined speed, to allow the discharge of liquid and thereby effect marking'of the member, whereby the plane of rotation of the element will be recorded on the member. v

ARTHUR L. ARMENTROUT. ELWIN B. HALL. 

